No RTE Authority in place for last month

June 23rd, 2005 | by aobaoill |

The role of the RTÉ Authority, as the management body of RTÉ and the buffer between RTÉ and government, is an important one. In the early 1970s the government removed the authority members en masse when they refused to follow government directions (and broadcast an interview with the then Chief-of-Staff of the IRA) which led ultimately to the 1976 Broadcasting (Amendment) Act, which insulated members of the Authority from removal (it now requires a two-third majority of both Houses of the Oireachtas) and instituted the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC).
Of course, there’s no need to remove members of the Authority if there’s no Authority in place, and for the last month that has been the case. Since members serve fixed terms (and, unlike bodies like the FCC in the USA, are generally all appointed at the same time) it’s very obvious when decisions on these matters need to be made. Unlike a body such as the BCC, where a vacancy of a month or so only causes a back-log in complaints to be dealt with (itself undesirable, but sufferable) the lack of an Authority can cause major problems in the media system. While much of the day-to-day power is exerted by professional staff – and Bob Quinn’s Maverick illustrates the limited power of an individual member of the Authority – the Authority, collectively, is essential to making top-level strategic decisions and, as I indicated above, to the political independence of the station.
Labour TD Tommy Broughan has been keeping track of this – which is how I know and am able to tell you. On 6th June, a week after the former Authority left office, he said The failure of Minister Dempsey to appoint a new RTE Authority is astounding given the fact that it has long been known that the board’s term of office would come to an end last week. Now, two and a half weeks later there’s still no Authority, but an end may be in sight, if Tommy is right:

I have learned that this issue will be on the agenda of the cabinet meeting this Tuesday and hope that Minster Dempsey and his government colleagues will finally deign to make a decision and appoint a new RTE authority as a matter of urgency.

More as I hear it….

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